Our gardens expert has the answer

As my echeverias and aeoniums grow, the rosette develops a long, bare stalk that lolls around unattractively. If you cut the stalk hard back, a new rosette doesn’t form as it would in most plants. How do I get them back to their original state?

Your echeverias and aeoniums are growing leggy because of poor light levels. They need somewhere warm, with lots of direct sunlight; too little and they wander to find more.

You may be cutting them back too hard and discarding the bit you should keep, which is the top half of the plant. Cut off the rosette so that there is an inch or two of stem just below the bottom leaf. Leave this for a day or two, somewhere out of direct sunlight, but warm, so the stem can callus over and start to produce new roots. Then insert this in a pot with new compost and lots of grit for drainage. Keep it out of direct sunlight so that it doesn’t dry out while it reroots. Once this is done, move it somewhere sunny.

You can also propagate from the leaves of an echeveria; allow them to callus over before carefully nudging the base into some compost so they lie on their side. Miraculously, they will reroot. There are YouTube videos worth watching before you get started propagating.